American Sign Language 3

Transcription

1 American Sign Language 3 Title: ASL 103 B Instructor: Brent Anderson Time: T & TH 5:30 7:40 banderso@bcc.ctc.edu Room: R-204 Phone/tty: Item #: 1379 Office Location: R 230 (Mailbox: R 230) Quarter: Spring 2006 Office Hours: 4:00 5:30 (or by Appt.) Course Description: ASL 103 is a five credit, transferable, college level, language course. It is the third quarter of the first year study of American Sign Language (ASL) and the community of people who use it. In the study of this as a second language you will learn or review fundamental issues of basic human language, grammar and communication. You will discover issues unique to the Deaf community in America, and learn that this beautiful, natural, rich language cannot be separated from the community that developed it. Above all, this is a class that requires your attendance, involvement, practice and commitment if you plan to succeed. Required Texts: Signing Naturally, Level 1, Expanded Edition. Student Workbook and Videotape. Deaf in America, Voices from a Culture. Padden & Humphries. Harvard University Press 1001 Signs for ASL Students, Volume 2 (ASL 102 &3 Course Packet & DVD) Web Resources: Many of your class guidelines, assignments, homework, and handouts are accessible to you only through the internet. You will need to check frequently to find the resources you need. You can find these important materials and the syllabus at: The syllabus but not the class materials can be found here: Click on Winter 2006, then World Languages, and then find your class under ASL 103 and click on the instructor s name, Anderson B to find the syllabus for the class. Spring quarter: April 3 rd June 15 th Class will meet Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 7:40 in Room R-204 There is no holidays that fall on Tuesday or Thursday.

2 Course Outcomes: In the course of this class the student will acquire basic knowledge of grammatical constructs, rules, and functions of American Sign Language through usage, responses, translations and application in classroom conversation, receptive exams and expressive assignments. At the end of this course the students will be able to... Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts, rules and functions of American Sign Language learned in ASL 101, 102, and 103 through applications of these principles in a consistent, practical manner. Demonstrate their improved skills by expressing themselves correctly and understandably in fluid American Sign Language using proper rhythm and movement inherent in the language through practical application, expressive assignments, and receptive exams. Identify, explain and illustrate issues of diversity and fundamental aspects of deaf culture, as well as demonstrate knowledge of key terms and issues concerning the education and employment of deaf people through a variety of methods. Demonstrate direct knowledge of the deaf community through expressive assignments and written work. Apply knowledge and comprehension of fundamental ASL language functions and various grammatical concepts and structures, and demonstrate knowledge through usage in class and through expressive assignments. Recognize and understand correct use of ASL through daily practice of core vocabulary by correct responses, translations and application in classroom conversation, core-vocabulary video tapes, receptive exams and expressive assignments. Identify, explain and illustrate the various uses and functions of American Sign Language Classifiers through discussion, usage, expressive assignments, and exams. Demonstrate knowledge of signed concepts, sentences and stories by translating them into written or spoken English. Demonstrate ability to understand English concepts, sentences and stories and translate them into understandable American Sign Language through classroom work, expressive assignments and receptive exams. Class Website: It is the Student s responsibility to check the class website frequently for resources and class materials. Homework: Some homework assignments are posted only on the web, and not handed out in class. Your schedule tells you when homework assignments are available. Resources: Study guides and other documents that will help you succeed in this class are also posted on your class website. Start with Definitions of Classroom Terms

3 Grading: Your grade is a numerical reflection of the effort and dedication that you invest toward your learning of this subject and you re ability to apply what you have learned. You are the only person responsible for your grade. The sum of all of your work points comprises this numerical value that is your grade. As per BCC policy, you will receive a letter grade after the completion of the quarter. This letter grade is assigned as an equivalent to your total earned numerical points. You must have no less than 60% of all possible points to receive a passing grade in this class. There are a total of 1000 points possible for this quarter. Your grade will be a fraction of that number. You must achieve a minimum of a C grade to transfer to the next level of ASL. Grading: Points for this class will be earned in the following areas: A 96% Signing Naturally 200 A- 90% Culture/Grammar 120 B+ 87% Fingerspelling 80 B 83% Expressive Skills 200 B- 80% Receptive Skills 100 C+ 77% Term Paper 100 C 73% Culture Contact 100 C- 70% Participation 100 D+ 65% Total: 1000 D 60% Accommodation/Accessibility If you require accommodation based on a documented disability, emergency medical information to share, or need special arrangements in case of emergency evacuation, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. You will find that Bellevue Community College has many resources for its students People with learning differences or disabilities have many options for developing strategies that for academic success. Because ASL is a manual and visual language different than any spoken language, some students find ASL to be a perfect match for their learning style, while others struggle and struggle. While struggle is a normal part of education, people with learning disabilities can get overwhelmed and struggle unnecessarily when help is available. As a teacher, one of my greatest frustrations is watching a smart student work diligently and still has trouble with tests. It s even worse when this student comes to me late in the quarter to inform me of his or her learning disability when it s too late in the quarter to get the assistance he or she deserves. If you know or suspect that you have a learning disability contact me (and DSS) right away so we can build a strategy for your success. If you would like to inquire about becoming a DSS student you may call or go in person to the DSS (Disability Support Services) program office in B 132.

4 The Schedule: (Notice that it s not written in stone) WK Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday April 3 4 Discuss Syllabus Deaf Jeopardy! Unit Quiz: Signing Naturally 10 Culture/Grammar 1 Spelling 1 DEAF IN AMERICA Unit 11 May 1 2 Quiz: Signing Naturally 11 Culture/Grammar 2 Spelling 2 DEAF IN AMERICA 8 9 Expressive Project Unit Quiz: Signing Naturally 12 Culture/Grammar 3 Spelling 3 DEAF IN AMERICA Unit 13 Complete Review 1001 Signs Assignment: Unit 13 Exercises in workbook Due: PowerPoint Project 5 6 Expressive Project Final Exam Week 5 6 Review Unit 9 Begin Unit Unit 10 Complete Review 1001 Signs Assignment: Unit 10 Exercises in workbook Begin Unit Unit 11 Complete Review 1001 Signs Assignment: Unit 11 Exercises in workbook 3 4 Receptive Test Begin Unit Unit 12 Complete Review 1001 Signs Assignment: Unit 12 Exercises in workbook Begin Unit June 1 Quiz: Signing Naturally 13 Culture/Grammar 4 Spelling 4 Due: Culture Contact DEAF IN AMERICA 7 8 Receptive Test 2 14 Final Exam Week 15 Office Hours: 4:00 5:

5 Reading Schedule for the Deaf In America Read by Chapter Title Page Week 2 Preface v-vii Culture/Grammar Week 2 Introduction 1 Quiz #1 Week 2 Ch 1 Learning to be Deaf 12 Week 3 Week 3 Ch 2 Images of Being 26 Culture/Grammar Quiz 2 Week 4 Ch 3 A Different Center 39 Week 5 Week 6 Ch 4 Living in Others' World 56 Culture/Grammar Quiz 3 Week 7 Ch 5 A Changing Consciousness 71 Week 8 Week 9 Ch 6 Meaning of Sound 91 Culture/Grammar Quiz 4 Week 10 Ch 7 Historically Created Lives 110 Week 10 Attendance: Your attendance is required if you are to succeed in any sign language class. ASL 103 is no exception. Because the language is visual and manual, your eyes, body and mind must be present or you cannot learn. Your participation in class activities is a required part of your attendance. American Sign Language is all about communication and communication is the interaction between individuals sharing information. A book or videotape can never provide this communication environment. If for any reason you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate and find out what was missed. If you missed a handout it is your responsibility to make a copy of that handout from a fellow student or to contact the instructor for a copy. Make-ups are not possible for missed tests or quizzes. Your attendance will be recorded and your percentage of attendance will be factored into your final grade and will earn you part of your Participation points. Quizzes: Much of your grade will be earned through a variety of quizzes that will occur regularly throughout the next eleven weeks. Every quiz is an opportunity for you to accumulate more points toward your total grade. Your quizzes are divided into three areas: Signing Naturally 50 points 200 points Cultural & Grammar 30 points 120 points Fingerspelling 20 points 80 points Signing Naturally is the main text of this class. A combination workbook and videotape, it gives you out-of-class exercise in reception, translation, and understanding not only of American Sign Language, but of the culture that uses it: American Deaf Culture. It is your responsibility to work and re-work the lessons until the information becomes completely understandable to you. You MUST stay abreast of scheduled workbook assignments and bring to class any questions that arise. Your ability to follow through on this responsibility will be measured by means of regular Signing Naturally Quizzes. These quizzes will include vocabulary and grammar from the assigned chapters of your workbook. There will be a total of four Signing Naturally quizzes each worth 50 points each for a total of 200 points.

6 Cultural/Grammar Quizzes: Throughout the quarter, you will be quizzed on information from class lecture information and your assigned text readings directed at the exploration of issues in the culture of Deaf Americans and the Grammar of their language. There will be four multiple choice quizzes each worth 30 points for a total of 120 points. Fingerspelling: Fingerspelling quizzes require your attendance. Periodic fingerspelling quizzes will happen throughout the quarter and will include vocabulary in 1001 Signs, and ASL numbers. There will be four fingerspelling quizzes each worth 20 points for a total of 80 points. In this class excellent fingerspelling skills are expected. There will be no makeup for fingerspelling quizzes. Expressive Skills Exercises: Expressive skills can be described as your ability to produce understandable sign language. To demonstrate your improving ability you will work in small groups. You will prepare your exercises outside of class with a practice partner. Each assignment will be clearly defined as it is assigned. Each exercise will be worth points for following instructions, preparation and participation. Exams will be explained as they are assigned. Your expressive Exams will be self evaluation and worth a total of 200 participation points. (See self assessment). Receptive Skills Tests: Receptive skills tests will take place midway through the quarter and at the end of quarter. The instructor will produce signed sentences (in person or on video tape) using vocabulary and grammar presented in class. Students will be expected to translate these passages into written English. Each receptive skills exam will be worth 50 points for a total of 100 points. Home Work: Semi-Weekly homework projects will be assigned to you as a take-home learning/practice experience. These are assignments that pertain to issues discussed in class that are worth 10 points each. Homework assignments are designed as a learning tool for students rather than a testing tool of ability. Points are assigned by timeliness and effort put into the assignment rather than being graded for right or wrong. You will notice that the class calendar indicates homework assigned on Quiz Days. These dates are the dates that homework is to be assigned. Check the class website for assignments. All homework is due on the following class after it is assigned. Late work will not be accepted for full points. A total of 50 participation points are possible for homework. ALL assignments (homework, Deaf Contact papers, etc.) must be turned in by 5:00 PM at Final Exams Week Office Hour. I will use BCC s clock in R-230 to decide when it is 5:00 PM and I will not accept any papers past 5:00 PM. PowerPoint Project: (Due Week 9) To show your awareness of Deaf culture and the issues important to members of the Deaf community, you are to create a 5 minute PowerPoint presentation. The point of this assignment is to show your ability to think critically, and apply your knowledge that you have gained in ASL 101, 102 and 103. You may include outside sources, but make sure you give credit to where it is due. This is worth 100 points. If you need assistance in learning how to create a PowerPoint presentation, computer lab at N building can help you.

7 Cultural Contact Experience: A Cultural Endeavor! Practical application of your sign language skills is required throughout the quarter. You are required to have three contacts using American Sign Language to provide you first-hand experience with The Deaf culture, and (hopefully) to introduce you to a new friend. Your three contact experiences are worth a total of 100 points. Requirements and guidelines for this assignment can be found on the student info website. Participation Points: A Minimum of 100 points (10% of your grade) is will be earned by being in class, following directions, participating in class activities, and satisfactorily completing homework. These points can also be taken away by speaking in class without permission (see Voicelessness ). You will be allowed up to 5 unexcused absences and still earn 100 points, but if you miss more than 5 classes, then you will automatically lose 50 points for the participation grade. Don t forget that quizzes and exams cannot be made up unless you have a valid excuse with proof. Classroom Protocol (what I expect of your behavior): Voiceless-ness!: During the class, the use of voices is prohibited. Your voice is not invited to the class. The Instructor will voice only necessary discussions and students may be invited to do likewise; however, one cannot learn ASL by practicing spoken English. That is why a silent environment will be maintained throughout the class, unless otherwise established by the instructor. Upon the teacher s discretion, a penalty of 5 points per infraction may be implemented for students who speak in class without the teacher s permission. Whispering is not allowed. You are expected to assist your classmates and facilitate their effective learning by letting them wrestle with their own questions. Whispering answers to them does not help them learn anything. Listening Skills: Stay alert and follow all conversations that take place in and around the classroom. Remember that exposure to the language is your best opportunity to learn it. Whether the conversation is involving you directly or not, it is another chance to practice your receptive skills. In other classes, we have learned to ignore exchanges between other students or between the instructor and another student when the issue does not concern us, in fact, it s considered impolite to eaves drop. But in ASL, since it is a visual language, any conversation held in the presence of signing people is considered to be public in nature. Every exchange in class is an opportunity for you to follow a conversation and practice your new skills. Active Listening Behaviors: Certain active listening behaviors are expected as part of American Sign Language. That is, certain manual (Oh-I-See; Huh?; Wow; Really?) and non-manual signals (Nodding; Facial Expression; Mouth Movements) are not only ways of showing the signer that you understand, but it is a Social Norm! ~ Part of the culture. Blank looks or lack of active listening behaviors will not only interrupt the conversation (such as causing your instructor to stop and ask i f you understand, or needlessly repeat the information), but can be interpreted as rudeness in many social situations.

8 Respect of Others: In starting, I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you as an adult can handle responsibility for your actions. I will expect courtesy, attentiveness, and a willingness to learn. In so doing, you will earn my respect as a responsible adult, and be treated accordingly. What I will not tolerate is your interference in another student s learning experience. That includes, distracting noise or behavior, Cell-phone use, whispering, insults, cruelty, harassment (of any kind), or ridicule. I am sure that you as a responsible adult will not tolerate these things either. I wholeheartedly believe that learning requires the making of mistakes. My classroom is a place where your well-intentioned errors are welcomed. Sometimes, mistakes are funny and laugher follows naturally, good-natured laughter is welcomed, especially where we learn to laugh at ourselves -- with our classmates not AT them. Keep in mind that no one feels free to take risks in an environment where they fear being ridiculed or criticized and learning requires risk-taking. You are responsible for creating the kind of open environment where you, yourself, feel free to make mistakes, and find understanding, and support from those around you. Mistakes: Dare to be wrong! I expect all students to make mistakes in the process of learning a new language. From my study of linguistics and theories of language acquisition, I have come to believe that the mistakes that you make while learning any language are not only inevitable, they are invaluable! Do not hold yourself back for fear of being wrong! Letting your best efforts speak for themselves, the errors you make in understanding, or producing sentences show me which properties of the language you have conquered successfully and which ones are still under development. Do not assume that other students in the class have an advantage over you. Most of them are probably right in the same boat rowing (or sometimes fishing) right along side of you. Your mistakes can be learning experiences for your classmates as well. Although you probably won t be making any mistakes that I haven t seen before, errors that you make in a good faith attempt may seem novel to your classmates, and understanding the mistakes of another can be a very useful way of getting to the root of an concept with which you, yourself, are struggling. Always do your best. Apply what you have learned, but set yourself free to learn more than you know by letting yourself try your best. In short: Dare to be Wrong! Study & Practice: Do not fool yourself into believing that your learning experience for this subject will be confined to the time you spend in this classroom! What you are undertaking is an adventure in language! That takes time, patience, discipline, practice, practice and more practice. This quarter, we have a total of roughly 45 hours together! Do you think that s enough time to learn a language? You can see why it is essential that you take what you learn in class out into your regular life and practice it there (I know that most students don t have a regular life, but you know what I mean!) Successful students know how to apply themselves outside of class to get the results they want. Your student workbook is a great starting place. It gives you receptive practice watching various models from the videotape. You will quickly realize that no two people sign exactly the same; no more than any two hearing people have exactly the same voice, accent, volume, and style.

9 How to get an A: Getting an A in this class is no simple task, but it is possible. In years of watching students with all kinds of learning styles, personality types, and study habits, I have seen many students succeed in ASL classes. I have noticed that A students have certain behaviors in common. Here s what they d tell you to do if you want to get an A: Maintain excellent attendance; miss no tests, quizzes or homework. Read your syllabus know what s expected of you. Read Your class schedule, know what s expected and when. Read your texts and bring questions to class. Practice ASL outside of class: study groups, interact with ASL students, Deaf Friends. Fall in love with ASL. I strongly suggest that you make every effort to arrange to gather outside of class to practice elements of the language and Deaf culture introduced in class. Using the language in a natural setting outside of the classroom is the only way to master the language naturally. How to fail this class: Failing this class is no simple task, but it is possible. To fail this class, all you need to do is miss class often. Material comes quickly and is comprehensive. You miss one day and there s no telling how far behind you will fall, and there is a snowball effect. Information missed in one week can come back to haunt you weeks later. Here are some things other students have done to help fail this class: Miss class (quizzes and tests cannot be made up) and you ll miss important information and practice time. Lose your syllabus Do not practice outside of class. Do not read your texts on time. Turn in work late. Be disrespectful of ASL, Deaf Culture and your fellow students. Having trouble printing this Syllabus? banderso@bcc.ctc.edu and ask for a.doc or.pdf version of this document.